Kylie Murphy: Backing needed to keep next generation of female talent at home

Kylie Murphy was the inaugural Women's Personality of the Year winner voted by the soccer writers and broadcasters. The equivalent accolade in the men’s game was on the go for 62 years

Kylie Murphy of Wexford Youths: The inaugural Soccer Writer's Ireland Women's Personality of the Year. Picture: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Kylie Murphy added the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Women’s Personality of the Year award to her Player of the Year gong but the Wexford Youths captain still believes in better.

She’s well qualified to offer her views, for the 33-year-old has been a Wexford Youths mainstay since the Women’s National League came on stream in 2011, amassing four titles and the same number of FAI Cups en route.

Excellence has accompanied her along the way, culminating in the 33-year-old writing her name into history by becoming the inaugural yearly winner voted by the soccer writers and broadcasters. The equivalent accolade in the men’s game was on the go for 62 years before equality was rightly achieved.

Murphy knows well that the domestic league has work to do if its reputation is to gain optimal respect, admitting there were spells over the past decade when it regressed under financial neglect from a parent body with misplaced priorities.

Had it received the deserved backing, then perhaps the standard would have justified international recognition for more than a few select players.

The absence of a senior Ireland cap, despite her consistency, coupled with Ireland’s struggles over the years, is still mystifying, not that the qualified carpenter expects to have one in the cabinet she’s planning to construct upon her retirement.

That juncture remains a few years away, with Wexford the frequently forgotten element of a title battle that Peamount United and Shelbourne have come out tops in over the past four years.

More than just being fit and able, she mastered the art of defying age by switching from midfield to attack last season, bagging 18 goals including one in the FAI Cup final victory over Shelbourne.

“You can feel it in the last year or two that the league is really starting to grow at the pace it should,” said Murphy.

“There have been strides made but it’s been incredibly slow. I’m going into my 12th season with Wexford and there’s a couple of years where we’ve gone backwards in the growth of the women’s game.

“The commitment gets harder every year now and I’ll keep going as long as my legs are going.

“I think the next step for the league is to go semi-professional, as best they can but obviously money is what is needed.

“The more exposure that we get, the more media, the more games that are shown live on television, people will want to watch.”

The striker’s reflections are placed in the context of the annual exodus of talent. Exporting to a level such as the English Women’s Super League is understandable but players are also departing for little or no financial return within the American college system or drifting towards GAA.

Keeping gems such as her teen teammates Ellen Molloy and Aoibheann Clancy in the country will be difficult but the veteran wants to see more from the authorities to curb the desire to flee at the first opportunity.

“We have lost really, really good players to the WSL or further afield in the last four years,” she notes. “Unfortunately, that reduces the standard of our league.

“If every team starts losing their best players, then they are just constantly getting knocked down and rebuilding.

“These kids coming up now, their thought is they want to go professional and that is not staying in Ireland. We definitely need more funding in the league because that’s the only way we’ll progress.”

She’ll be sticking around to mind the tyros and won’t rule out joining them in the Ireland squad, more in hope than expectation. Murphy’s former Wexford boss Tom Elmes also left the door ajar when headhunted as Vera Pauw’s assistant and there is a friendly tournament coming up in Spain next month.

“I wouldn’t turn down the call-up but it’s unheard of for a 33-year-old to win their first cap,” she says with a smile.

“It would have been nice to get a chance to play for Ireland but I parked that bus a long time ago.

“Different managers have come in and, as you know, different managers like different players and have different tastes. Unfortunately, for any manager that’s come in, I just wasn’t good enough.”

It’s not too late for Pauw to rectify the misjudgements of her predecessors.